Congressman Albio Sires took a step forward by helping pass the
Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2012, which will ultimately
allow the House and Senate to work together and reach an agreement on a
long term transportation bill.

As a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure
Committee, Sires urged his colleagues last month to push for
this bill to be passed when he and Secretary of Transportation Ray
LaHood, along with Senators Lautenberg and Menendez hosted a press
conference in Hoboken for this two year bill to fund highways and mass
transit.

"Passage of this bill brings us one step closer to passage of a
long term transportation bill, which will allow Congress to focus on our
most important issue - creating jobs," said Congressman Sires. "For too
long there has been extension after extension, and with the
construction season upon us we must work quickly to finalize a long term
transportation bill."

This bill extends the current surface transportation bill for
another 90 days until September 30, 2012. The House and Senate will
then be able to go to conference to reconcile differences between the
House bill and the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act
(MAP-21), which was passed by the Senate on March 14, 2012.

It is
estimated that under MAP- 21, up to 1 million jobs will be created and
1.8 million jobs will be saved.

"It is my hope that with passage of this bill, the House of
Representatives and U.S. Senate is now prepared to work together to pass
a long term transportation bill, invest in our infrastructure, and
create jobs," said Sires.